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Scientists like roboticist Hans Moravec and inventor Ray Kurzweil advocate uploading our minds into robots or virtual reality so that we can live forever. They believe that our minds can be replicated outside of our brains if we simply copy the pattern of neuro-chemical activity taking place in our bodies. That pattern, rather than the brains in which the pattern takes shape, “is” the personality. If it can be transferred to a digital medium, it can be made immortal. Surpassingly intelligent robots—our Mind Children, according to Moravec—will populate the universe, converting physical reality into a cosmic interweb of thinking machines.

George W. Bush accomplished a near-miracle when he united the various factions of the Republican Party behind his candidacy in the 2000 presidential election.

The faith of Jason Collins, who recently came out as the first gay athlete in a major American sport, doesn’t fit the model of culture war conflicts the media expects and the religious right demands of its spokespeople.

The director of a new documentary talks about Dick Cheney’s daughter, the arrogance of power, and the days when Republicans weren’t anti-gay.

“I find that really hurtful that as a woman who’s been a member my whole life who’s faithfully attended, paid my tithing, held a calling—that the fact that I don’t have a Y chromosome would prevent me from being allowed to sit before my prophet and listen to his words.”

In New York Times interview, anti-choice Democrat claims he’s been shunned by his party. Not so much?

I was there in Bodhgaya in the winter of 2006, attending a busy and crowded prayer ceremony organized by the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Devotees and pilgrims from all over the world, including China, had come there.

The Rio Olympics, described by Associated Press as “decidedly gay-friendly,” feature a record number of openly LGBT athletes, including Brazil’s gold-medal-winning Rafaela Silva. Among LGBT firsts are…

“No compromise” gun group takes credit.

Australia: Voters overwhelmingly support marriage equality; opponents seek religious exemptions Australian voters overwhelmingly expressed support for marriage equality in a non-binding mail…